


Where Do You Sleep?

by pherryt



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [10]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Bi!Dean, College AU, Coming Out, Hope, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-11 23:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16862395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Dean and Cas have a brilliant plan for their next semester in college - rent a house, fill it with some friends - but how did showing it off turn into coming out to his family?





	Where Do You Sleep?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 25 – I have a prompt for you: Dean is in college and plans to move into a house with his "roommate" Cas. But his family wants to check out the place first. All seems to going well until Dean tells them he wants to rent out 4 of 5 bedrooms and his little brother Adam asks "Where do you sleep?" It's okay if you don't want to do it but just let me know either way.
> 
> 1539 words
> 
> (YEs, this was previously part of another work, but I decided it should stand alone)

College was great.

Dean never thought College was for him, but here he was. Not only was he doing well in his classes, but he had made some of the best friends in his life ever. Honestly, he had no idea what he would have done if he’d never met Benny or Charlie….

Or Castiel. Dean smiled just thinking about them.

Of course,  _College_ was great, but the  _dorms_ were  _hell._ So now that they were in their third year and were now ‘qualified’ to live in off campus housing (seriously, how was that a thing? How did they justify forcing everyone into dorm housing when  _some_ of the students lived in town, or were 40 year old’s with kids of their own? The answer was, they didn’t. So why did everyone else fall into that criteria? What the hell was up with that?) Dean was jumping at the chance to move in with Cas.

Cas, of course, had it all planned out. The house was big enough that it had multiple rooms of decent size, and several general areas that could be used by a small handful of people for study sessions and movie or game nights. And since it would be their place, they could set the rules.

And they could rent out the extra rooms for cash to help afford the place and it would wind up being cheaper than dorm housing for everyone else in the long run.

Win/win.

Armed with a plan, Dean went home for the summer and started packing. Because damned if he was gonna be faced with all that extra room and privacy and  _not_ take advantage of it.

Dad and Kate seemed to agree with the plan too – because anything that saved money in the long run was a good idea. But it turned out they didn’t want to sign off on it completely till they had a chance to check it out themselves. 

With a roll of his eyes, Dean made arrangements and the five of them headed up early with his stuff spread out in two cars. Castiel was already there and waiting when they arrived and Dean leaped out of the car, running up the sidewalk and pulling the other man into a long hug.

“Missed ya, Cas,” Dean smiled as he let go.

“I couldn’t tell,” Castiel grinned back, before letting out a soft, “so did I.” That nobody else heard. Unpacking was put on hold as Castiel told Dean to go right ahead and give a tour while he made sure lunch was ready.

Dean’s Dad and his stepmother. as well as his two brothers, eagerly crowded around Dean. Sam and Adam with an eye toward excitement while John and Kate looked at the house with the more critical eye of an experienced home owner.

“So we’re standing in the living room, that’s the kitchen, there’s a bathroom over there and access to the basement here,” Dean started leading them through each room as he named them, or pointing at the doors leading to other areas. “The downstairs bedroom here at the back,” Dean pushed at the already open door, Castiel’s bags and boxes already in evidence before leading back down the hall to the stairway to the second floor. “And we have four more bedrooms up here.”

“This place is…rather spacious,” Kate noted as she peered into each one. “Why do you need so many rooms?”

“Oh, well, Cas and I plan to rent all the upstairs rooms to our friends. They’re just as sick of the dorm life as we are.”

Kate raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with John, but Dean missed it as Sam spoke up, “Are there any other rooms?”

“No, why do you ask?”

Adam blinked and turned away from peering into one of the echoingly empty rooms to look at Dean with confusion. “But where are  _you_ gonna sleep?”

“I already showed you,” Dean noted with a defensive tone to his voice. Shit, he’d slipped up. He knew this had been going too well.

“Son, the only other bedroom you showed us was already occupied.” John said slowly.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded, watching his father warily.

“Is that where you’re sleeping, sweetheart?” Kate asked with wide eyes, “In that….that room that your friend…” she trailed off. Dean stared at his family with a sinking stomach and swallowed hard. He’d never actually come out to them as bi. He wanted to. God, he’d wanted to for a while now, but he was never quite certain how they’d take it.

“Y-yeah,” Dean took a deep breath. Might as well just rip it all off like a band-aid. “Me and Cas are a thing. I mean, we’re together. Been dating since last year. And he’s sweet and he’s awesome and he’s smart and he makes me a better person and if you have a problem with that – “

Dean’s voice rose in pitch with almost every word, the words tumbling out of his mouth with no filter, out of control, as if now that he’d opened the floodgates, everything was determined to  _be out there._

“Son, stop – “

Dean’s breathing grew ragged and his eyes grew blurry, “- and if you have a problem…then…then…”

“Dean?” Cas’s welcome voice came from behind Dean and a hand gripped his shoulder. “Dean, are you all right?” With a shudder, Dean turned and allowed himself to be wrapped in Cas’s arms, trying to get himself under control, to stop the flood of tears that had started.

Cas held him tight and glared over Dean’s shoulder at the wide eyed and stunned faces of his family, “What did you say to him?”

“I…nothing!” John protested, taken aback by the vehemence in Cas’s tone. Cas tucked Dean’s head into his neck and threaded his fingers into Dean’s spikey hair soothingly, while the other wrapped more firmly around Dean’s lower back. Cas sighed.

“I came up here to tell you that lunch was ready. You all must be hungry after a long drive so, why don’t you go down and eat and I’ll talk to Dean, see if we can get this sorted out.”

“But – “ John started to protest again, confusion and concern evident on his face. Kate touched his arm and murmured to him and he deflated, nodding. She waved Sam and Adam down the stairs and followed after with a last, considering look at Cas and Dean.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Cas kissed the side of Dean’s head and leaned their heads together, fingers still threading through the spikes. “Dean, what happened? What’s wrong? Can you tell me, love?”

“I…I...” Dean shuddered against Cas and clutched at him, “I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m overreacting. I…may have accidentally came out and then I…word vomited, you know how I get and then, well, they didn’t  _say_ anything and I panicked and...” Castiel felt the dampness on his shirt as Deans’ tears continued to flow, “Fuck, what if…what if they can’t accept that I’m bi? Cas, what am I gonna do? They’re my family. I love ‘em, man. But I love you too,” he whispered.

“Sshhh, Dean,” Cas soothed, “I think you just took them by surprise, okay sweetheart? When you calm down, and you’re ready, we can go check on them, together. I promise. Whatever happens, I’ll be there. Remember that, okay? I love you too, Dean.”

“We love you too, Dean, and if Cas is important to you, then he’s important to us too,” Kate’s voice took them both by surprise. It took all of Cas’s self-control not to jump at the sudden presence of Dean’s parents, John chiming in after Kate,

“I’m sorry, Dean. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you couldn’t talk to us, son. Cas is right – you just took us by surprise. If I were honest with myself, I can’t say I haven’t been expecting something like this for a few years now. It honestly doesn’t matter to me, to  _us_. Just as long as you’re happy and safe.”

Dean sniffled and raised his head to peer over Cas’s shoulder, to find his whole family (Adam and Sam were trying to poke out from behind their parents and were nodding vigorously) crowded in at the top of the stairs where they’d obviously hidden to listen in. Normally, he’d be upset at such blatant eavesdropping and invasion of privacy, but now he’d take it.

He lurched a little and Cas let go, trailing a hand over Dean’s back in support as his boyfriend took a hesitating step towards his family. Kate didn’t hesitate for an instant and wrapped him up in a hug nearly as snug as Cas’s had been.

Soon, Dean was enveloped in the arms of all his family, a welcome, though a bit awkward, group hug. He laughed wetly, wiping at his eyes, as he realized they didn’t care. They accepted this part of him as well.

The icing on his cake, of course, was when Kate gestured at Cas and included him too, none of his family hesitating to draw him right into the thick of things beside Dean, and a weight that Dean hadn’t even fully realized he’d been carrying finally eased away.


End file.
